Most of you were probably watching football (and understandably so), but just before the Steelers pulled out a thrilling victory, the Pirates were able to stage one of their own.

Brian Burres pitched another great game: 7 innings, just 1 run, 4 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts. Wow. That effort wouldn’t be good enough for a win, though, because the Bucs were facing Johnny Cueto – who doesn’t allow the Pirates to score runs. Ever. He tossed seven scoreless, and after Chan Ho Park and the Reds’ bullpen took care of the eighth, the Bucs were 3 outs away from a 1-0 loss.

Two outs, bases loaded, 1-0 score, and Andrew McCutchen at the plate. He quickly fell in an 0-2 hole, but just before Troy Polamalu made what looked like a game winning interception at Heinz Field, Cutch roped a double down the line. All three runs scored. One strike away from losing, the Pirates led 3-1.

Joel Hanrahan came out for the save. He picked up two easy outs, but right after Jeff Reed missed the game winning FG, Joel ran into trouble. HBP. Single. Walk. All of a sudden, the bases were full of Reds this time, and a single could tie the game (and an extra base hit could win it). Wouldn’t have been surprising based on what happened the last two nights.

Hanrahan would have none of it. After a long battle with Chris Heisey, he fired a fastball on the outside edge that Heisey watched for strike three. Minutes later, Rashard Mendenhall sprinted to the endzone for a Steelers victory.

Great day to be a Pittsburgh fan, for sure. And for the Pirates, it’s not only an exciting win but a pretty solid weekend, despite losing two out of three. They played well in all three games on the road against a very good club.